Absolutely everything you need to know about the ENSEMBLE LAUNCH FEST

So, our launch is almost upon us. There’s a lot to take in, so we’ve compiled every detail about it here in one handy blog post ::

1. The Music.

So we have a grand total of 11 bands/ensembles playing in Block B on Saturday. We will be releasing the full running order and times tomorrow (Friday), but we can tell you now that it will be divided into 2 parts and broadly speaking will pan out like this ::

So you could say the lineup is in a sort of “chronological” order, whatever that means. They will be split between 2 stages, alternating from one to the other with only a small break between each act.

We are incredibly grateful and proud to be working with all of these musicians – each and every one of them are doing some of the most extraordinary things with their respective styles of music and we’d encourage you to come from the very beginning and catch them all.

You can listen to a playlist of each of them on Soundcloud here ::

2. The Venue

The venue is Block B in Smithfield, which some of you may know from the Smithfield Flea Market and one or two previous gigs there. It’s an open unused office space just to the left of the Lighthouse Cinema. Here it is on Google Maps. It’s actually quite easy to find but there is no sign outside it, so we’ll have a few large posters on the door.

It is NOT IN BLOCK T. They are our very generous co-hosts for the night, and we’re absolutely delighted and incredibly grateful to be collaborating with them on the event. It simply would not be possible without them, but it is not in BLOCK T itself because it’s far too small, and besides they have a great gig of their own there too that night.

In many ways we see ourselves as a music company that parallels what they do for visual art, and we’re very exciting to continue collaborating with them long into future :: www.blockt.ie

3. Tickets

Tickets are selling fast. They will be available online for €12.50 (plus booking fee) until Friday at midnight from www.ensemble.ie/launch.

Then they’re €15 on the door until 8pm, and €20 after.

We very much recommend booking in advance for 2 reasons ::

a) It’ll mean you won’t have to worry about arriving before 8pm and having to pay €20 (though we recommend arriving as early as possible to catch everything anyway).

b) While Block B is huge and in theory we could fit thousands of people there, for safety and visibility reasons we’re going to keep it fairly limited. So while it’s unlikely to sell out in advance, it may well do on the door. So you’re best off booking in advance just in case.

4. The Food.

We’ve one of the finest homegrown food suppliers Dublin has to offer joining us on Saturday ::

The great folks at Gruel Guerilla – who’ve been behind some of the food at Hunt & Gather events, the Twisted Pepper, Roasted Brown, and more – will be introducing their latest concoction to Dublin for the first time on Saturday. The Euro Taco. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a taco for €1. Taco in hand, taco in mouth.

During the day, you’ll also be able to get sandwiches, tea, and coffee from the lovely Third Space in their café just around the corner. You can also pop over to the Generator Hostel (where our after party is) where they serve up gourmet burgers, pizza, nachos, and more until midnight.

5. The Drink.

So this is a BYOB gig. Yes, this means you can bring your own booze. We know we don’t need to say this, but we’d encourage you not to get completely shitfaced, because it’s really not that kind of gig and we don’t want any trouble with the powers that be. Sound.

There will ALSO be a some free beer supplied by our friends at Tiger. It’s pretty limited and will be dished out on a first-come, first-served basis so get down early.

6. The Visuals.

We’re delighted to have 2 of Ireland’s most innovative projection mapping maestros joining us for the gig on Saturday ::

LeTissier will be joining his partner in crime Bantum for a very special AV show. They’ve been collaborating for a good few years now and their set up defies all conventions… you’ll see. LeTissier has just wrapped up an amazing run in Meeting House Square for the Dublin Fringe Festival, find out more about his work at :: www.letissieristrad.com

Slipdraft will also be providing visuals on our Main Stage for Overhead, The Albatross and their long time collaborators Alarmist. They’re right at home at Block B having produced a lot of their biggest projects there, as well as being the guys behind much of the visuals at Hidden Agenda and Body&Soul. Check out their stuff on :: www.vimeo.com/slipdraft

Big thanks to both these guys for doing their thing at the gig, we look forward to working with them on many more projects in future.

6. The After Party.

We’re also super excited to be heading across Smithfield Square to the Generator Hostel for our after party once the proceedings in Block B are over. Generator are hosts to some of the coolest music events in town and it’s great to be working with them :: www.generatorhostels.com

Music for it will be provided by our good pals from new house/disco clubnight Dip, aka Cáit Fahy // Enda Rowan // Robbie Kitt // Ro Hayes. Have a listen to some of their mixes on their Soundcloud below and you’ll find yourself dancin’ already ::

Admission to the after party is free to anyone with a wristband, but the capacity is somewhat limited and we’re also sharing it with the guys from the gig in BLOCK T, so admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. So basically, don’t faff about after the music finishes up in Block B – head straight over to Generator.

Please note that the Generator is not a BYOB venue but will have a bar.

7. “Being Sound”

As most people know, these kind of large scale, DIY, BYOB gigs sometimes run into trouble with the Gardaí. While we’ve taken absolutely every step and precaution possible to make sure everything goes according to plan, there’s a few things we’d ask you to do to make sure nobody ruins anyone’s fun ::

a) Only drink inside the venue. Even if you’re going out to our smoking area, leave your drink on the table we’ll have beside the door. We know this is annoying, but there’s a reason for it. Basically BYOB gigs are ok so long as you keep the alcohol consumption inside, so please do.

b) Don’t piss on the streets. Unfortunately there’s no toilet in the venue, which is one of the drawbacks of doing gigs like these. So instead anyone with a wristband will be welcome to use the toilets in the Generator and some of the other local businesses. Don’t go to the toilet anywhere else please.

c) Don’t be an eejit. Given the kind of music on display, we’d be pretty shocked if any eejits did show up, but “there’s always one”. Don’t be that one please, we hopefully don’t need to explain this any further than that.

We’ve already informed the Gardaí of the event, and in general they’ll only ever take issue with events like this if we give them reason to. So please don’t. Just be sound.

Please note: We reserve the right to refuse entry or remove anyone from the premises who is deemed to be too drunk or disorderly.

Photo credit: Dublin Jazz Photography

On that delightful note, we’re incredibly excited for the gig and look forward to seeing you there. It’s been a hell of a ride getting here but we think it’ll be well worth it.